Tchaikovsky Perm Ballet
Who: Russian company from Perm.
What: In "Swan Lake" and "Sleeping Beauty"
Where: New Jersey Performing Arts Center, March, and on tour
Perm, located on the edge of the Ural Mountains, has had a theater since 1821 and a ballet since 1925 in performance of classical and contemporary ballets. During WWII the Leningrad-Kirov Ballet was evacuated to Perm and in1945, a choreographic school was established. The choreographic schools (meaning an academy that teaches the pedagogy of the Vaganova technique system and academic subjects) provide a complete curriculum of the 8-year Vaganova system throughout Russia, are government supported in large part and produce excellently educated and talented dancers who, must pass rigid yearly examinations or be eliminated from the school. Hopefully, some are taken into the official school company, serve 20 years and are then given the option to become teachers with courses in the Vaganova technique system, receive a certificate of proof, or are given a sum of retirement money. Those who defect, from any such school or company before their tenure in a company, have not repaid their government student loan for 8 years of schooling. Several notable dancers from Perm have been seen in the West. Most renownd was Nadezhda Pavlova, 1973 winner of the Moscow Grand Prix.
Academies, are in part, a major reason why the Russians, Cubans, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese produce excellent ballet dancers. That, and excellent home discipline for those with talent, help students reach their potential. Americans can choose their own preference of schooling and style. The touring Russian companies, with dancers from the major academies, are from that well-trained pool. They perform the classics and other works with great success. Touring companies, such as the Perm group, the Russian National Ballet, State Ballet Theater of Russia, or whatever a group calls itself, are an income producing venture. Houses are usually sold out, demonstrating American love of ballet and belief that the Russians are the best ballet dancers. Not all companies are sponsored by their government, but by entrepreneurs. In any case, go see them. They have toured the nation extensively for months.
Perm's Odette/Odile Swan Queen on March 17, was Elena Kulagina and her Prince Siegfried, Alexei Tyukov. The production presented a company of exquis-ite dancers, with the signature Russian strong supple upper back, floating arms, long neck, proud head, articulate feet and strong, lean legs. This production, in four parts, was conceived and directed by former ABT principal, Natalia Makarova and that was the only thing wrong with it. The score was chopped up to accommodate the choreographic additions of Makarova and Sir Frederick Ashton's Fourth Act staging, superimposed upon the original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Since Makarova is not a coach, who can draw the inner best from a performer, her interpretation was bloodless, drained of joy, excitement and that one second when someone feels inspired enough to soar with good taste, into another sphere. Ah, well. Two strange deviations from the "school" occurred: the ballerina dropped her head then raised it again after a supported series of turns, and the execution of the famous 32 fouettés in the Third Act were performed in the manner of the Cecchetti school with the opening of the leg front and into a rond de jambe side, instead of the Vaganova form of opening and closing from á la seconde.
Most entertaining were the excellently performed character dances, since ethnic dance is part of the curriculum, the beautiful costumes and tasteful scenic drops. Valery Platonov, principal conductor of the Perm State Opera and Ballet Theater, compromised his orchestra's tempi in the Tchaikovsky score to match the pallid atmosphere on stage.